00:00ESPN NFL Draft Analyst Matt Miller joins us now on the Wise Heart Ride.
00:03We Make It Right. Call Kyle Wright Hotline.
00:06Matt, welcome to the show.
00:09Hey, appreciate you guys. Thanks for having me.
00:10Well, it's great to have you.
00:12And like I said, if you went out and talked to 32 people,
00:15you're going to have 32 different opinions on Brennan Sorsby.
00:19So I guess we can start there.
00:21When you watch the tape, what do you see from Sorsby?
00:25Yeah, I see a player that probably would have been in the first round mix last year.
00:29Not up there with Fernando Mendoza.
00:31And maybe ultimately we see Ty Simpson go ahead of him.
00:34But I think he would have been in that conversation, in that area, right?
00:37To where maybe we would have seen a team like the Miami Dolphins
00:40instead of getting Malik Willis for two years.
00:42Maybe they stay and draft a quarterback.
00:44So I think he would have been in that conversation.
00:46What excited me and Scalas about Sorsby was where he could get in another year of development.
00:51Another year as a starter, a year in that Texas Tech system
00:54with better players around him than he had at Cincinnati.
00:57The Bearcats had a heck of an offensive line last year.
01:00That's a good scheme.
01:00But the idea was that he would be in a better situation.
01:03And that's why guys transfer at this point, right?
01:06You're looking for a better scheme fit, a better situation.
01:08Maybe it is something as simple as a better level of play,
01:11a better competition to boost your profile.
01:13So that's where we were at with Sorsby,
01:14where he had the ability to play his way into maybe being a top 10 pick in 2027,
01:20maybe being the third quarterback off the board behind Arch Manning and Dante Moore.
01:24Now, obviously, that's all been thrown away,
01:27and we kind of got to start this evaluation from a different point of view,
01:30which is the off-field plus where he's at right now as a player.
01:35So where is he right now as a player?
01:38He's a starter.
01:39He's an NFL starter.
01:40I really, truly believe that.
01:42Now, the thing will be how long will it take him to get on the field?
01:45I think you look at this as 2026 is a redshirt year.
01:49And I'm not going to pretend to be a legal expert.
01:51There are a lot of smart people you guys could call for that side of it.
01:54But there's going to be that aspect of this as well.
01:57Will there be a suspension from the NFL?
01:59Is there a lingering investigation from a legal standpoint that's going to get involved here?
02:03That's for someone else to speak intelligently about.
02:06I look at this.
02:07The supplemental drafts will be late July.
02:09You're not getting this guy on the field in 2026.
02:11That's just too short of a time span.
02:14And I think we'd be doing him a disservice to expect him to be able to play this year.
02:19But I do think looking long term, you're seeing someone that has starter caliber traits.
02:23He's got a quick release.
02:25He's got a good arm.
02:26At 235 pounds, he's mobile.
02:28He can run around and make plays.
02:29I've heard scouts talk about Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, Jackson Dart,
02:33in terms of the type of player that he is, where you get a little bit of that gunslinger,
02:37a little bit of a wild card at the quarterback position.
02:40But somebody could also just deliver darts from the pocket.
02:42And Cincinnati did a good job of keeping him clean.
02:44And that's an RPO-heavy offense, where sometimes defenders were paused by the option there,
02:50but then also by his mobility.
02:52So there's certainly a lot to work with.
02:54It's interesting, Matt.
02:55One knock I've heard on Sorsby is there are people that don't think he has elite tools.
03:00You've said he's got a starter's tool set.
03:02Do you see anything elite in his game?
03:06Well, I think the instincts are elite.
03:07And I think the combination of everything, like the quick delivery with the mobility
03:14and that fearlessness.
03:16So I think if you put all the quarterback traits in a list and said arm strength.
03:21No, he doesn't have elite arm strength, but it's good enough.
03:23Okay, size.
03:246'3", 235, it's good.
03:26It's not great, right?
03:27Mobility, good, not great.
03:30Instincts, good, not great.
03:31But I think it's the totality of that.
03:32And Sam Darnold just won a Super Bowl being a good, not great traits quarterback.
03:37We've seen guys like, I mean, Jared Goff, good, not great traits quarterback.
03:41Brock Purdy, you know, you can find guys that you don't have to be Patrick Mahomes,
03:45Caleb Williams, right?
03:46You can get the job done while being really good in a lot of categories.
03:50And I think we're seeing that in the NFL in several places right now.
03:53And there's a hell of a lot of teams that would take that right now.
03:56You know, and, you know, the Browns, the Jets, the Steelers.
03:59There's a lot of teams that as they look to the future would say, man,
04:02we'd take good, but not great in a lot of these categories.
04:05So I would agree, you know, there's not a standout singular trait here,
04:08but I think the overall picture is a pretty good one.
04:11I've heard three different comps.
04:13Brett Favre is one of them.
04:15A bigger Baker Mayfield is another one.
04:17Jackson Dart is the third.
04:19I had to start you with a Brett Favre one.
04:20All right.
04:21What do you think about your favorite comp,
04:26or who is your favorite comp that you would throw out there?
04:29I like the Jackson Dart one.
04:31I heard that one from a scout as well.
04:32The thing is, he's bigger.
04:33And that's where I got hung up.
04:35I think the play style is like Jackson Dart and like Baker Mayfield.
04:38Kind of that like, man, I don't care.
04:41I'm going to go play the game.
04:42You know, I'm going to run around.
04:43I'm going to extend the play.
04:44I'm going to make passes across my body.
04:47You know, you kind of do some unconventional things.
04:51He's built similarly to Baker, kind of that thicker build.
04:53But again, he's 6'3", 235.
04:55So he's quite a bit bigger than Baker.
04:57I don't – the last time I compared someone to Brett Favre was Patrick Mahomes.
05:02And, you know, you kind of learn your lesson.
05:04When you get away with it once, you're like, all right, I'm not doing that one again.
05:08So I wouldn't be willing to go that far.
05:10But I get where that's coming from.
05:13It is that gunslinger mentality.
05:14I think, you know, what Darnold was at USC, you know,
05:18you've got a dude who played linebacker as a freshman who was leading all these
05:21come-from-behind wins.
05:23There's the USC game against Texas that was iconic.
05:25I see some of that, not so much Darnold with Seattle,
05:28because I think he's become smarter.
05:30He's become a little bit safer.
05:32But, again, viewing who these guys were as prospects,
05:34I think you're in the right area with Jackson Dart and Baker Mayfield.
05:38Matt, you mentioned a lot of the usual suspects there that have been tied to him
05:44just in kind of the hypotheticals, the Jets, the Cardinals, the –
05:48I know you mentioned the Steelers and the Browns.
05:51Give me somebody off board.
05:52Give me a surprise team that you think would make sense if they got in,
05:57whether it's a first, second, or third-round bid on Brennan Sorsby.
06:01Yeah, it's funny because we were just talking about Baker Mayfield.
06:04I think it's the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
06:05Joe Baker's got one year left in his deal.
06:07He said last week they're nowhere close,
06:08which a lot of times that's a negotiation tactic, right?
06:11But I do think there's a world in which Tampa looks at this and says,
06:14you look at their depth chart.
06:15They don't have a quarterback of the future.
06:17They don't have a guy, a young guy, waiting in the wings.
06:20You know, Baker's to that point where – and I'm a Baker fan, man.
06:24He's – what a fantastic story, you know, the turnaround that he's had.
06:27But I think if you're a team like Tampa,
06:29why not take a shot in the third or fourth round on a guy that could be your future
06:34at the quarterback position?
06:35So that one stands out a lot to me.
06:37Miami is a sneaky team.
06:38You got Malik Wills for two years.
06:40And I know he came with the head coach.
06:42He came with the general manager as a package deal.
06:44But those are the two teams.
06:46And, listen, I think this goes back to – this is not a guy that you should expect
06:49to play in 26.
06:50So we got to look at teams that are willing to be unconventional
06:53to fill the most important position in all sports
06:56and can understand the value and the risk of Sorosby.
07:00I think you got to have a strong veteran locker room.
07:03You got to have a strong head coach.
07:05Those are the ones that stand out to me of the teams that we can at least say
07:10have a quarterback need.
07:11It's funny right now.
07:12You got the teams that are set at quarterback.
07:13You got the teams that are desperate at quarterback.
07:15And then it feels like there's about 12 teams that could go a lot of different directions
07:19depending on what happens in 26.
07:21You know, the Panthers, the Texans, the Buccaneers, the Dolphins, the Vikings.
07:25Those are all teams that I think you have to consider as maybe an unconventional landing spot.
07:29So is he good enough, in your opinion, then, to take you off the 27 draft class?
07:34Not early.
07:35That's a great point.
07:36And I know I've been all with you guys saying it.
07:38I've been all over everywhere saying it.
07:3927 is going to be the best draft a lot of us have ever covered.
07:42So I would not – I wouldn't trade hardly anything for a 2027 first-rounder.
07:48I mean, Myles Garrett, a Hall of Famer, one of the greatest players in the NFL,
07:50just went for a single first-round pick, a 28-second and a 29-third, right?
07:56That tells you the value of the 27 draft.
07:58So I would not be willing to move off a first, maybe not even a second.
08:02I think that's going to be team-dependent.
08:04But, gosh, the depth at corner, wide receiver, running back,
08:08even quarterback look really, really good for 27.
08:11So I would be in no hurry to move off those picks.
08:14So, Matt, there have been talks about the quarterbacks,
08:18how many elite-level quarterbacks should come out next year.
08:21I know it's early, and I know this can change,
08:24but which quarterbacks do you have in kind of that first-round conversation for 2027?
08:30Well, it starts with the two guys that would have been, I think,
08:32the first overall pick this year, and that's Arch Manning and Dante Moore.
08:36And I love Fernando Mendoza, but I think they would have really upset the dynamic.
08:40The Raiders would have had a hard choice among those three.
08:43So they will likely go wire-to-wire as one and two.
08:45And we'll have 10 months to argue about who's one, who's two, but they're right there.
08:51I think after that, you get to some guys that are intriguing.
08:54CJ Carr will be in his second year as a starter at Notre Dame.
08:57He definitely looked the part last year.
08:59Drew Messemaker transferring from North Texas to Oklahoma State.
09:02It'll be his second year as a starter.
09:04He was amazing last year.
09:06And seeing him at Oklahoma State might blow this thing wide open.
09:09He might be in that mix as well.
09:12Jaden Mava at USC, Lane Kiffin, or excuse me, Lincoln Riley,
09:16for whatever you want to say about Lincoln Riley, he develops quarterbacks really well.
09:18He's had two first-round picks at quarterback, three if you want to count Caleb Williams
09:22following him from Oklahoma to Texas.
09:24So I think those are the guys that you have to consider.
09:27But there's a lot of potential out there, too.
09:29Lenore Sellers is still out there.
09:30CJ Bailey at NC State is still out there.
09:33And there's a lot of quarterbacks, and I'm sure I'm even leaving some off
09:37just because there's so many that are in the mix.
09:40Julian, say I'm in-state with you guys.
09:41I mean, a lot of these players, after two years as a starter,
09:44you kind of hope they go back for another year.
09:46But if you can come out with 25 to 30 starts in two years, that's plenty for the NFL.
09:51What would you set, like, the over-under for quarterbacks taken in the first round?
09:55Are we getting, like, five like we did the Baker draft?
09:58Or is this going to be one, two like you discussed, and then it's going to be very sporadic and
10:03scattered?
10:04Well, funny enough, I did a 2027 mock draft this morning.
10:08It doesn't come out for a little while, but I wanted to, like, see what it kind of looked like
10:11early.
10:12And I had five.
10:13And that wasn't reaching.
10:14That wasn't trying to, oh, man, I've got to pull this guy up.
10:17That was five guys that are ranked in my top 25.
10:20So I think five is probably where we're going to be.
10:22It's going to be closer to 2024, truly, than any other class.
10:27And we had, you know, Caleb, Jaden Daniels, Drake May, and then we had Bo Nix and Michael Penix.
10:32Four of those look like really, really good picks right now.
10:35So I think it's going to be more like that year than some of the other years.
10:38Like, even with, you know, the Baker year in, was that 2016?
10:43It was like some of those have been hit.
10:44I don't have that, right?
10:452018.
10:462018.
10:46So, like, Lamar and Josh look great, right?
10:49The others have kind of had to go a different path to get to where they are.
10:52But I think it'll be, you know, 2024, 2004 was a good one.
10:59There's a lot of great quarterback drafts that could be up there.
11:02I've been doing it for 15 years.
11:03This has the chance to be the best I've covered.
11:06Matt, you're one of the best we've covered.
11:08We appreciate you, buddy.
11:09Great stuff.
11:09Enjoy the offseason.
11:12What offseason, guys?
11:13We've got a couple of drafts.
11:15I'll be good, bud.
11:16Appreciate you.
11:17Thanks so much.
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